"The Fine Detective story does not contain 'a' clue but it is a ladder of clues, a pattern of evidence, joined together with such cunning that even the experienced reader may be deceived: until, in the blaze of the surprise ending, he suddenly sees the whole design."
- John Dickson Carr

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Locked Tomb Mystery - Elizabeth Peters

Story: The Locked Tomb Mystery

Author: Elizabeth Peters

Source: The Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits, The Mammoth Book of Egyptian Mysteries

Story Number: 101

Just bought both these titles in the Friends of The Public Library bookstore and this story immediately caught my eye for two reasons – it was in both the collections and it involved a locked room mystery! And hence it was obviously hard to let it go! Crocodile On The Sandbank is one of her books which I’ve heard a lot about but haven’t got around to yet.

Senebtisi’s funeral had been the talk of the town because of the riches that she took along with her to the next world, leaving her son penniless. When there is a spate of tomb robberies on the west bank and the riches from inside the tombs start floating around in the open market, the citizens are a worried lot. One such tomb robbery puzzles everyone – including the Pharaoh, who hires Amenhotep Sa Hapu to investigate the strange robbery – the facts of the case goes something like this:

Senebtisi’s son Minmose decides to make sure that his mother’s tomb hasn’t been disturbed. He requests the Priest who helped in the burial ceremony to inspect the tomb; the necropolis seal is intact, they still decide to break open the seal and enter to make sure that the thieves haven’t dug a tunnel into the tomb. When they enter the tomb, the priest witnesses the mummy to have been dragged out of the burial chamber, the valuables are missing, the body inside the mummy has been torn open and yet the stone tomb itself hadn’t been broken in – the seals on the door were intact, the mortal untouched, there was no break of the smallest size in any of the tomb walls or ceilings and the dust lay undisturbed on the floor.

Amenhotep knows who the culprit is right from the beginning but he has no proof or evidence to show for it – the two interviews of the priest and Minmose provide him and the reader sufficient clues to figure out the clever trick of the locked tomb!

2 comments:

Can I request a review? The collection of historical mysteries set in ancient Egypt has a Judge Amerotke story by Paul Doherty and would like to know more about it. I have been tempted to buy the collection just for that one story.

Sure. "You Can Drink The Wine.." is a locked room mystery. I also have 2 of his other stories lined up: "The Murder of Innocence" in which the character Mary Frith is introduced and "The Confession of Brother Athelstan".